Texas Coach Steve Sarkisian Takes Shot at Ruling of Vanderbilt Star Diego Pavia
Diego Pavia will be back for Vanderbilt in 2025.
That is huge for the Commodores coming off their most successful season in six years that could be culminated with their first winning record in over a decade by beating Georgia Tech in the Birmingham Bowl.
Pavia won a landmark case against the NCAA after he was granted a temporary injunction by the court when they sided with his claim that the rules on junior college participation counting against eligibility violates antitrust law.
This opens to door for junior college players behind him to have their edibility clocks start when they reach the NCAA level, something that was not the case before this ruling.
There's no doubt this will have a major impact on collegiate sports going forward, and while Vanderbilt is certainly happy they're going to have their star quarterback suiting up for them in 2025, not everyone feels the same way.
Ahead of his first-round matchup in the College Football Playoff, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian strongly spoke out against this verdict.
"I totally disagree with the NCAA's determination on this. We chose to go to junior college football, and that's where we wanted to start and play our career. So, I don't understand it at all. We're going to have guys 28, 29-years old playing college football. Like, what's the point, man? I don't get it, I don't understand it, I totally disagree with it," he said.
When asked by @Joshua_Newman about the decision to allow Vanderbilt's Diego Pavia an additional year, Steve Sarkisian was pretty straight forward:
— Cory Mose (@Cory_Mose) December 19, 2024
"I totally disagree...we're going to have guys 28-29 years old playing college football"#HookEm | #Texas pic.twitter.com/9yTFXZXkCd
Sarkisian is wrong on one major point here.
This isn't an NCAA ruling.
In fact, if it were up to the NCAA, then Pavia would not be playing in 2025 since that was their stance which caused the quarterback to bring this lawsuit to court in the first place.
Pavia is being granted the extra year because the court agrees with his notion that the NCAA clock should not start during a player's time in junior college, especially in the NIL era.
Sarkisian can be upset all he wants about this verdict, but his frustration should be directed at the right place if he's going to be critical.
Nonetheless, what he thinks doesn't matter.
Vanderbilt will have Pavia back in 2025 as they look to build upon this successful campaign.
